Ruger® 10/22® rifles manufactured by Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. of Southport, Connecticut are one of the most successful recreational shooting rifles in history. The rifle's popularity stems from its origins as one of the first modern rifles chambered in .22 caliber that featured a quality design suitable for use by adults. Its easy handling characteristics, negligible recoil, and inexpensive ammunition make it ideal for young or inexperienced shooters. However, the rifle is also widely used by small game hunters and those who want an inexpensive rifle firing inexpensive ammunition for target and plinking use. These characteristics also make it useful as a training rifle for police and military applications. A wide range of after-market modifications are available to improve the rifle's performance, augment the rifle's appearance, and increase its magazine capacity.
The rifle's design employs an integrated modular subassembly approach depicted in FIGS. 1-3. The modular construction of the components means the average person can easily replace any part of the gun using only a screwdriver, a hex key, and simple punches.
The trigger guard assembly 122 of the 10/22® rifle 100 contains the entire firing mechanism, which features a short-throw, high-speed swinging hammer 158 for rapid lock time. The hammer is cocked by rearward motion of the bolt assembly 126. A trigger 154 releases the hammer to discharge the rifle 100. The trigger is encircled by a trigger guard 156. The trigger guard assembly is held together by trigger guard assembly pins 148 inserted in trigger guard assembly pin holes 124. The one-piece .22 Long Rifle (LR) receiver 136 is milled from a solid block of cast aluminum and is drilled and tapped for a tip-off scope mount adaptor supplied with the rifle. The bolt assembly reciprocates within the receiver. The motion of the bolt assembly 126 is controlled by a cocking handle 130 mounted on a guide rod 132 and a recoil stop pin 142 attached to the receiver. The recoil stop pin is positioned in the bolt path where it can engage with a recoil pin slot 128 in the rear 150 of the bolt 152 to limit rearward movement of the bolt. The magazine 116 is a compact rotary 10-shot unit.
The barrel 102 uses a unique attachment technique where the barrel is screwed rather than pinned into the frame. The barrel tenon 104 is not threaded, but attachment of the barrel to the receiver involves two barrel retainer screws 106 and a barrel retainer 108 with a slot 110 in its rear that is received by a slot in the underside of the barrel. The forward portion of the barrel is secured to the stock assembly 118 that includes a stock 140 by a barrel band 112 that is tightened by a barrel band screw 114. A takedown screw 120 further secures the barrel within the stock assembly. The upper portion of the barrel is left exposed by the stock assembly. This construction makes removal and replacement of the barrel, which would otherwise require a gunsmith's work with most other rifles, much easier.
The bolt assembly 126 is shown in more detail in FIG. 2. The bolt assembly includes a bolt 152 having a rear 150, left side 160, right side 162, and a front 164. An extractor 166, extractor spring 168, and extractor plunger 170 are attached to the bolt. A firing pin 144 with a firing pin rebound spring 172 is attached to the bolt by a firing pin stop pin 174 received by aperture 176. The extractor sits in a slot 178 in the front right side of the bolt. A round hole 180 across the slot receives the square tail 182 of the extractor. The extractor is pushed toward the center of the bolt by the extractor plunger on the extractor spring. The plunger fits against the outer shoulder 184 of the extractor. The extractor functions to extract an unfired cartridge from the chamber 146 by engaging the case rim when the bolt is manually cycled, and the extractor holds a discharged case in position on the bolt by engaging the case rim until the left side of the case head contacts the ejector 188 (shown in FIG. 3). Once the discharged case encounters the ejector, the case pivots about the hook portion 186 of the extractor and spins sideways out the ejection port 138. Because the rifle 100 uses a blowback action, the extractor does not pull a discharged case out of the chamber. Instead, gas pressure resulting from the discharge pushes the discharged case back against the bolt to cycle the action.
The extractor 166 supplied with the rifle 100 is prone to malfunctioning because of excessive wear or breakage of the hook portion 186. When the extractor lacks a sharp hook portion, the extractor can slip off the case rim of an unfired cartridge, thereby leaving the cartridge in the chamber when the bolt is manually cycled. Furthermore, a worn or broken extractor can be unable to hold a discharged case in proper position on the bolt 152, resulting in the discharged case failing to contact the ejector 188. As a result, the discharged case becomes stuck inside the receiver, which prevents the next round from being chambered.
When the extractor 166 malfunctions because of excessive wear or breakage, it must be replaced before the rifle 100 will operate properly. While numerous replacement extractors are available from Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. of Southport, Conn., as well as other companies that have sought to improve upon the extractor's design, the extractor is a small part that easy to lose or to forget to carry with the rifle 100.
Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved gun part with integral spare extractor that can be detached from the gun part to replace a damaged extractor. In this regard, the various embodiments of the present invention substantially fulfill at least some of these needs. In this respect, the gun part with integral spare extractor according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of providing a gun part with integral spare extractor that can be detached from the bolt lock to replace a damaged extractor.